Funeral pre-paid or not?

(WSVN) - As her mother grew older, she thought she had pre-paid for a funeral service and a crypt. But when she passed away, she was told that was not the case. Convinced she had, she called Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.

There is no good way for a life to end. But Magdalena’s 97-year-old mother was not passing until her daughter made it to her hospital bedside.

Magdalena Louis: “I said, ‘Mom, I’m here,’ touching her, and then I just heard, ‘beep, beep, beep, beep.’ She was just waiting for me to come, and she just gone.”

Merci had left this world the way she wanted.

As Magdalena began to grieve, she at least knew she wouldn’t have to worry about the funeral arrangements because she pre-paid that for her mother.

Magdalena Louis: “Everything covered. You just have to bring the clothes. So I purchased the package: $8,000 plus.”

As she left her mother’s side, Magdalena called the funeral home.

Magdalena Louis: “And they put my name in. They said they couldn’t find my account. I said, ‘That’s weird.'”

Magdalena couldn’t find the paperwork that proved the $8,000 paid for a crypt for herself, and a crypt and funeral services for her mother.

And now she had a new problem, Merci told her: bury her quickly.

Magdalena Louis: “Because she always said, ‘When I pass away, don’t let me stay on the ice.’ So I was just try to please, even she passed, her request.”

Magdalena borrowed $9,300 from friends, paid for the funeral and had the services for Merci.

Magdalena Louis: “Thank God I have a good friends around. Collect money to pay, thinking, ‘I’m going to get that money back and return it.'”

Then, months later, Magdalena found the old paperwork.

Magdalena Louis: “The account’s been paid in full.”

Magdalena contacted the funeral home and was told the original contract paid for the crypts in full, but not the funeral.

Magdalena Louis: “That makes me so sad, because I chose them, saying this is what’s covered, and now they told me something else. I do not feel happy about it.”

It’s confusing. So, Howard, straighten it out: Did Magdalena pay twice for her mothers funeral or not?

Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “She thought she did, but she doesn’t have any paperwork to prove it. And the key in pre-paid funerals and burials, because it may be decades before you die: keep a copy of the documents for yourself and give one to your next of kin to make sure you get what you paid for.”

We contacted SCI, the parent company of Caballero Rivero. They said Magdalena was confused.

Cemetery contracts and funeral contracts are separate. She did not have a funeral pre-need contract for her mother, just the cemetery.

The company also charged for opening the crypts.

As we went through the paperwork, we discovered they had charged Magdalena another $2,145 for the crypt charges.

The company rep disputed that, but said they would reimburse her for a portion of the contract “as a symbol of good faith – that’s all.”

Magdalena Louis: “And I feel so grateful, and I thank Channel 7.”

Magdalena got her check, showed it to her mother at her crypt, and she has something else: advice for anyone pre-paying for a burial.

Magdalena Louis: “You have to make sure everything that they tell you to do, put them in paper and writing, so you can come up with your document. That was, again, my mistake.”

It’s understandable the paperwork is hard to keep up with, because hopefully you won’t need the funeral for decades.

Now, cemeteries and funeral homes are highly regulated by the state. To know your rights or to file a complaint, we have links under this Help Me Howard story. Check it out.

Buried by a big problem? Feel like you don’t have a prayer of solving it? Let us document it, to be of service to you.

With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.

FUNERAL CEMETERY AND CONSUMER SERVICES
myfloridacfo.com/division/funeralcemetery/consumer-help

CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN

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